


It’s not what it looks like

by reddeadmort



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Disapproving Family, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 05:48:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18359870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddeadmort/pseuds/reddeadmort
Summary: An alternative version of "So….Dad…." (see other works).You've joined the camp/gang after the death of your mother (Bessie), and have started seeing Arthur; eventually, your dad (Hosea) finds out, and isn't particularly happy.





	It’s not what it looks like

**Author's Note:**

> Preamble/Introduction from "So....Dad...." that also serves as the background/set up for this story (skip if familiar).  
> \----  
> You had known something was wrong when your father had appeared with no warning at the Doctor’s office where you worked. You hadn’t seen him and your mother for a few years, but they sent letters regularly, and always a small package on your birthday. You’d received one such package for your 20th, just a few months prior to your father arriving to give you the bad news. Your mother, Bessie, was dead. Hosea was in a bad way, and you had insisted it on coming with him to look after him. After all, while you had a job, you had no close friends in that town. You’d always struggled there, since your parents had insisted you go live with your cousin at 13; you never really felt like you fit in.
> 
> Arriving at the Van der Linde gang camp had been a shock, and the next year or so was a struggle as your father nearly drank himself to death. But everyone was so kind, and helpful; Dutch was always there for you when you needed to cry after spending another evening trying to make sure your father didn’t die in his sleep. 
> 
> You and John were very close in age, and he felt like your brother. You had some good laughs, admittedly most at John’s expense. Intellectually, you could run rings around him; but he definitely had skills you didn’t and typically got his own back whenever you attempted to shoot a gun. You were learning, but he had years of experience and loved showing off. After living with the gang for a while, you started to understand why your parents had sent you away; it gave you stability, the chance for an education. But you still wished you’d had more time with your mother.
> 
> Arthur was older, wiser, different to John; he’d experienced more pain. You expected him to not really pay much attention to you, but he was more than willing to spend time with you, teaching you the skills you needed to make yourself useful. He especially enjoyed any teaching you anything that helped you in your long-running one-upmanship with John. As soon as you mastered one skill, there he was, ready with his next idea; as time went on, you slowly realised what he was doing. He was desperate to spend time with you, and you were more than happy to oblige. 
> 
> It had all come to a head on a hunting trip out on the plains. You’d had a rough day; you had tried to break one of the wild horses you saw, as you really needed one of your own. Arthur had been brilliant, showing you how to slowly move towards the horse, calming it as you did. It had been going so well, right up until you were thrown onto that cactus. 
> 
> Luckily, you only caught it with your arm, but it still took Arthur a while to carefully pull the spikes out. It was almost worth it though when he gently rubbed ointment into your sore skin. As you lay on the blanket, head nestled on Arthur’s shoulder, allowing your sore arm to rest, Arthur had kissed you. And you had kissed him back. 
> 
> In the months since then, you’d spent as much time as you could together. You’d only told Abigail and Mary-Beth; you needed their help if you were able to keep your relationship from Hosea as long as possible. Your dad had been getting more and more protective recently; you suspected he was trying to make up for the failures in that year after your mother died.  
> \-----

It was a pleasant evening in Horseshoe overlook, and the majority of the gang were relaxing and drinking around the fire. Then, suddenly, the quiet chatter was interrupted by a yell.

“WHAT THE….! GET BACK HERE!”

Everyone looked up towards the source of the commotion and saw Arthur running towards them. He was completely naked, save for his hat clamped over his privates.  Not far behind him was Hosea, pulling his gun out of his holster.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY DAUGHTER!” Hosea practically screamed at Arthur, pointing his revolver at him; Arthur had managed to position the fire and the seated group between them.

“Hosea! It’s not what it looks like!” Arthur had one hand up in front of him, the other still protecting his dignity with his hat.

“WHAT WAS MY ONE RULE ARTHUR, MY ONE RULE!” Hosea yelled, gun still trained on Arthur.

“Finally got caught then brother” John chuckled next to Arthur.

“Shut up John, not helpin’” Arthur hissed back.

“FINALLY? WHAT DOES HE MEAN, FINALLY!” Hosea was a whole other level of furious, one none of them had seen before.

“Well, old man, cowpoke’s been poking your precious little daughter for months” Micah sneered.

“WHAT!!!!”

Arthur cringed and took a step back as Hosea pulled down the hammer of his revolver.

“Dad! What the hell!” You appeared from behind Hosea, your clothes hurriedly pulled back on. You pushed his arm down and stood in front of him.

“Y/N, you stay out of this! I’ll deal with you later!” your dad snapped at you.

“Goddamn it dad, don’t you dare speak me to like that! You need to calm the hell down.” You were furious at Hosea; you weren’t a little kid anymore, you could make your own decisions.

“Y/N, if you don’t move….”

“NO! Dad, stop acting like a fool and leave poor Arthur alone. Come find me when you’ve calmed down.” You stormed off, leaving a slightly bewildered Hosea stood in front of a chuckling group. Arthur had sensibly already slunk off, as soon as Hosea was distracted.

\---

A few weeks had passed, and your dad was still mad as hell. He had eventually come and had a talk with you that night, but wasn’t particularly coherent, just kept on trying to forbid you two from seeing each other. You didn’t listen, of course, but were sensible, and kind enough to hide it from your dad.  

It was tough, all you wanted to do was sit in Arthurs lap as you all relaxed around the campfire. You dreamed of being able to snuggle into his chest as he held you tight. But no, you had to content yourselves with stolen kisses in the woods around camp. You hadn’t been able to spend the night – or indeed any proper time – together since the _disagreement._

You didn’t dare go back to Arthur’s tent; you certainly weren’t going to let your dad actually ban you from seeing him, but you’d never seen him so angry. You’d love to get some time away from camp, to sleep under the stars, or even get a hotel room; but Hosea was keeping such a close eye on Arthur you had no chance. You could swear that every time you even sat next to each other, your dad appeared, staring at you.

Hosea was barely talking to Arthur, only when he was forced to. If Arthur tried to speak to him, tried to encourage him to share a story like he always used to, Hosea would either walk off or snap at him. He was slightly better with you, but not much; it was strange having your dad be overly polite towards you. Your rapport was damaged.

It was killing Arthur. Hosea was such an important friend and mentor to him, and he’d known him for so long. Arthur also couldn’t stand the thought of your relationship with your dad suffering either. Despite your protestations that you were in this together, Arthur was placing all the blame on himself.

One evening, when Arthur was on guard duty, you managed to sneak away from the campfire without Hosea noticing – luckily he was too engrossed in arguing with Dutch over his next great plan. You crept over to Arthur, who was leant against a tree, before stopping and calling to him. You weren’t stupid enough to surprise an armed man on guard duty.

“Arthur… it’s me” you whispered.   

“Evenin’ Y/N.” Arthur using your name threw you; he always called you ‘darling’, or ‘my girl’. You didn’t say anything about it and walked up to Arthur, resting your hand on his arm.

“You okay sweetheart?” you said as you went up on tiptoes, asking Arthur for a kiss. To your horror, Arthur didn’t lean down, and instead flicked his arm up in annoyance, causing you to remove your hand. “What the hell, Arthur?”

“Look, sorry Y/N, but I’m on guard.” His response was blunt, and you didn’t really know whether to be angry or cry.

“That’s not stopped you before!” you protested.

Arthur sighed as he looked down at your confused face. “I’m sorry darlin’. I just…I don’t think we should do this anymore. You an’ your dad are far better off without me causin’ trouble, actin’ like a fool. Hosea’s right, I shouldn’t have come near ya. I’m sorry.”

_Oh hell no. This was not acceptable._ “Arthur Morgan, just because some people call you an idiot doesn’t mean you have to act like one. Come with me, now, we’re going to sort all of this out.” You strode off, stopping a few metres away when you realised a slightly dumbstruck Arthur was still standing there. “Arthur! I ain’t joking, come on!”

Arthur weighed up his options briefly before deciding the best cause of action would be to not piss you off any further and started to follow you.

As you strode back into camp, Arthur at your heels, you grabbed Arthur’s repeater and threw at it the unfortunate Lenny, who happened to be passing. “Lenny, I’m afraid you need to take over guard duty for a bit.” You didn’t bother stopping to hear any complaints, but Lenny was smart enough to not even try.

All eyes were on you and Arthur as you stomped towards Hosea, sat in his tent. He looked up at you both before rolling his eyes.

“Dad, we need to talk.”

“Which we? Because I sure as hell still can’t stand to talk to _him_ , not after what I saw him doing to you.”

Sighing, you sat down next to Hosea on his bed. Arthur shuffled nervously in the entrance to the tent.

“Dad, enough is enough. If you would just listen for….”

“No, you look here, Y/N” Hosea interrupted.

“NO! Dad….I’m sorry. Please listen. We’re not going to stop seeing each other just because you say so, you should know that’s not how it works. I’m a grown woman now, I can make my own decisions. You have to stop acting like a martyr whose world is ending.” You were expecting yet another argument, more protestations; instead, Hosea just put his head in his hands.

“Oh my dear, I know, I know” he sighed. “You’re both still so young, you should be allowed to have some fun.” Arthur scoffed slightly at being referred to as young, but quickly quietened as Hosea shot him a glare. “I’m just worried about…”

Hosea didn’t have the opportunity to finish his sentence before you interrupted him.

“Fun? Well, I won’t deny that we’re having that.” Hosea winced slightly at this remark, the image of what he’d seen that night was still burnt into his brain. Arthur cringed, covering his face with his hands, almost certainly going a shade of red underneath it. “But, dad, did you really think that’s all this is? Is that what you’ve been so upset about?”

Hosea stared at you, then at Arthur, not sure what to say.

“I…I just assumed….” he stammered, unusually flustered. “Arthur, my boy, after Mary….. you always said that you’d…..”

“Never let another woman make a god-awful fool of me?” Arthur finished Hosea’s sentence, and Hosea nodded. For a moment, no-one spoke, unsure of how to continue.

“I love her, Hosea. I love Y/N.”

Your head snapped round to look at Arthur; did he just say…..

“What? You…. what?” You stood up, as Arthur stepped forwards, putting one hand on your waist and gently cupping your face with the other.

“I love you, Y/N. I don’t ever want to be apart from you. My life has been more…. more erm…. livable with ya. I’m sorry darlin', I ain’t so good with words.”

You pulled Arthur in by his shirt for a kiss before replying. “Arthur, you daft bugger, I love you too.” You both grinned at each other, completely forgetting your dad, still sat on his bed, slightly shellshocked. You turned to look at Hosea, hoping that this development would reassure him, maybe change his mind.

Your dad stood up slowly before walking over to you. He stopped in front of you, staring, not saying anything, before wrapping his arms around you in a big hug.

“I’m so sorry, both of you. I do make a bit of a fool of myself without your mother around to see me right. Now, Arthur, you better be a good man to her, otherwise…”

“Yeh, yeh, Hosea, I know, you’ll kill me.” Arthur laughed.

“No - I was going to say otherwise _she’ll_ kill you, and we both know which would be worse!” The three of you chuckled as you elbowed your dad gently in the ribs before you all headed out to update the rest of camp.


End file.
